[x] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[x] You're not a person, though. You're a youkai.

Wonder what happens if Phobe meets Yukari or Ran.

[X] You're not a person, though. You're a youkai.
[X] How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[X] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[X] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[X] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[X] You're not a person, though. You're a youkai...
[X] ...but that's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[x] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

[x] Well, then you'll definitely have to leave with them when they go to the party, now.
[x] Wait, how do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

>>18544
*interested

Please don't be like the person who always writes "sheesh" without the first H, or the illiterate twat that continually misspells the name "Hoshuu" in Frag.

If you are, go back to school.

And if you're a troll, you're something of a retard and you need a hobby that doesn't make you even more stupid, because god knows it's showing.

>>18575

You linked the old thread just to be a petty spellfag?

>>She shakes her head. "Don't like rain. And it's been raining for a long time, so I can't play outside much..."
>>You head under the building, too. "So, it's raining here, too. It must be raining everywhere."
>>She nods. "Ran says that it is. I don't know, though. Wouldn't everything be flooded by now?"

I smell an incident.

[x] You're not a person, though. You're a youkai.
[x] Besides, how would you even get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?
[x] You'd like to make it to the party, too...

>>18575
>>18577
Faggots that can't spell usually at least know how to sage, unlike either of you.

Enough thread-shitting, now vote.

Oddly relevant.

No update today. I've got another exam later, as well as one tomorrow, so I need to study. I'll resume tomorrow.

[x] That's fine. How do you get Yukari to let you leave, if she's always sleeping?

"If she's usually asleep, how does she let people leave?"

"She's awake sometimes," Chen says, "So people have to stay until she wakes up."

"Do they just wait around out here?" You ask, "I don't see anyone."

"Ran usually lets them inside if she sees them. No one has come here in a while, though, so it's been kind of boring. You're the first one in..."

She pauses, moving her fingers while looking at them. They slowly fold inward until they're all folded in; then, it starts again. ?7 days," She finally says, grinning. "That's right. He got here before that, but that's when he left."

"Yukari woke up?"

Chen nods. "Yep. That's when they go away. Then, we all ate, and she played some games with me. It was fun."

So, you could be here for a long time. But, maybe...

"Is she going to go to the party today?"

Chen thinks about it. "Oh, yeah. She'll probably wake up for that."

"Are you going, too?"

She grins. "Yep. They're lots of fun. I hope it's not raining then, though."

"Do you know Wriggle?" You ask, suddenly thinking of something. They've both been to parties at the shrine before, so maybe...

Again, she nods. "That's the bug person, right?"

"We're friends," You say, "Maybe we could all play together sometime?"

"Maybe tonight?" Chen asks, "That would be fun. Watching the adults is fun too, though."

[ ] "How about another game?" (Write-in, or let me choose something).
[ ] Talking is fine.
[ ] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.
[ ] Something else (write-in)

[B] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

[x] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

Side note: I hope the fire got taken care of in time.

[x] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

[x] Talking is fine.

Girl gossip~

[x] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

[Phobe] Talking is fine.

[X] Talking is fine.

Sorry, I got distracted today and couldn't write. I'll update twice tomorrow, after I wake up.

[??] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

KITTY

[x] Ask about those furry things that seem to be all over the village.

"So, what's that?" You ask, pointing to one of the things on the ground.

She looks, and smiles. "That's Sam," She says, pointing to the mostly cream colored animal. Then, she points to the black one. "She's Tammy, and he's George..."

She gives names to all six of the animals hiding under this building, pointing out one that you didn't even notice. But, she didn't answer your question.

"But, what do they do?" You ask, "They don't really look dangerous, or tasty."

"T-tasty?" She asks, "No, you don't eat them! They're cats."

"Cats?"

She nods. "Yep. We like to play together when there's no one else. I'm kind of their big boss, too."

Oh. So, maybe it's something like Wriggle and her bugs. "Every cat?"

She shakes her head. "Just these guys, and the other ones here. I'm just friends with the ones that aren't in Mayohiga."

She's a youkai. You already knew that much when you saw her. But, you think you have a good idea what she does. Her ears, and her tails, well... they're probably cat things. They look like it at least. So she's a cat youkai. You smile.

The conversation goes on for a little while; long enough for the rain to stop coming down, at least. After that happens, most of the cats go away. One sticks around in this building, and looks like it's hunting something.

"Prey?" You ask, watching it creep slowly and quietly into the building, ready to spring into action at any second. Very stealthy. Like what you do to humans sometimes, creeping through the forest.

Chen nods. "Quiet, though, you might scare it."

You watch. You can't see what it's going after because it's pretty dark in there. Slowly, slowly... strike! It lunges forward in an instant, driving something into the ground with it's mouth.

Very fast. Sort of like that spellcard that ran into you. Yes. She's definitely a super cat.

Soon it returns, a smaller furry creature in it's jaws. It's holding it high, tossing it into the air and grabbing it as it goes.

Chen claps her hands together. "Ahaha, good one! Huh?"

"I don't think she can play that, though." Chen look up, at you. "Hey, Phobe."

"Hmm?"

"You aren't a cat, right?"

You shake your head.

"Yeah," Chen says, turning back. "She can't."

"Can't play what?"

"Oh, she wanted us to go hunting," Chen says, "But it's no good if we're big like this."

"Big like this?"

Chen laughs. "Yeah. Can't you turn into else?"

You shake your head. You're you, not something else.

"Hmm. We can't play that, then. Unless you want to try catching the mice while being big."

[ ] How hard can it be?
[ ] Maybe there's something else you could all play (write-in, or let me decide.)
[ ] They can play, you kind of want to (write-in).

[x] How hard can it be?

>>[] How hard can it be?

Must resist.. terrible idea... but... so moeNNNNNNNGGGG

[ ] They can play, you kind of want to pester Ran.

[x] How hard can it be?
Eh? Well, if the alternative is pesteran shikigami, this is the better optinyon.

[x] How hard can it be?

How hard can it be?

{X} How hard can it be?

[ ] How hard can it be?

[??] How hard can it be?

Pied Piper of Madness.

I was going to update twice today, but instead, I ended up doing 8 hours of homework. My apologies. I get sidetracked rather easily.

[x] How hard can it be?

"I could try it," You say, smiling. How hard could it be?

Chen gives you a curious look, then looks to the cat. She laughs. "She doesn't think that you'll even get one," Chen says, motioning to the cat. "Are you sure? We could play something else."

You nod. "Yep. I want to try."

"Ok!" She says, clapping her hands together. "Try to catch as many as you can. Let's meet up later and see who does best~"

You turn to the right for a moment, and then back, but Chen is no longer there. No, wait. Is that her? There's a cat there that's different from the rest. Not in color or anything, but because it has a gold ring in it's ear. Also, it has two tails. It makes a noise at you, a nice one, and heads off into the building.

So, you just have to catch some of those smaller ones, right? Not hard. But, you wonder how you should go about it.

[ ] Speed.
[ ] Stealth.
[ ] Crazily.

[x] Stealth.

>[ ] Speed
Even if we are fast enough, I don't think we have the necessary maneuverability to catch mice.

>[ ] Stealth
We're wearing a rainbow beret.

[X] Crazily.

[B] Speed.

[x] Stealth

inb4 we catch ourselves a Nazrin somehow.

[X] Crazily.

[x] Crazily
Pied Piper of Madness indeed.

[X] Crazily.

I hope this doesn't drive the cats crazy.

[x] Crazily

I was going to go with stealth on the basis that Phobe can hunt, and besides, the crazy-power probably only works on or at least best on humans...

...but then I remembered rats and mice are used as lab animals because their nervous system is very similar to that of a human, or something.

So let's get to crazying.

[x] Crazily
Becuase being the youkai of crazy has its uses.

[x] Crazily

[x] Crazily.

[x] Crazily

[x] Crazily.

Well, you could do it like the cats do. Slowly creep up and snap the furry animals up with your teeth, shake them till they stop moving, and carry them around. But... you're not a cat. You're you. You should try to do it in your own way, which means being a youkai. Youkai can hunt them easily.

The cats don't need to be crazy, though. It'd be bad if they were, you think, seeing how Yuuka acted when you did it to her flowers. Hmm. Well, you could try to be a youkai for the small things and not the cats, you guess.

It's best to not try it right here, though. Lots of cats, and no mice that you can see. You fly up and spot a good building, then go back down. Most of the top is gone, so you can see inside better. Also, there's only one cat nearby that you could see from the air.

"Here, here~? You say, walking inside while being green. Not really green, but that's the color of your youkai-ness. The color of the danmaku pattern that uses it. Happy. If they're excited, maybe they will come out. "I want to play~"

You wait inside for a bit, for it to soak in. Looking around, though, you see no furry things. Maybe aiming doesn't work like this. Maybe you need to see one for it to feel like that, if you don't want to get the cats too. You sit down to wait.

It takes a little bit, but one eventually show up from behind some old things. Small, sniffing the air... and happy. Excited. This should work, right? Make it excited, and it'll... run.

The furry thing takes off, but you notice that it feels a little blue as it does. Hmm. Scared? Oh, maybe it doesn't like youkai. You did just move, so maybe it heard you and that made it blue.

...so, green isn't strong enough. Or maybe it's too close to blue? Hmm. Red, then? You wait for another.

This time, though, you get two. Out from behind some other thing. What if they were feeling angry? Like they had no way out, and had to fight?

...ah.

This one works. The two, after a little while, start to bite and scratch each other. And then one is dead, and the other is almost dead. You walk over and pick it up. It's all red and barely moving.

[ ] Cats eat these, right? Maybe it's tasty...
[ ] Grab the other one, and start a pile.
[ ] Something else (write-in)

[X] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

We've got a contest to win.

[Q] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

{X} Grab the other one, and start a pile.

Hoho~

[x] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

Today Chen's friends feast!

[ ] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

i like this

[x] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

[X] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

Oh god, the carnage..

[x] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

>What if they were feeling angry? Like they had no way out, and had to fight?
>start to bite and scratch each other. And then one is dead, and the other is almost dead. You walk over and pick it up. It's all red and barely moving.
Oh, holy shit. Phobe is going to be one hell of a powerful youkai. One that Reimu will need to keep an eye on.

[x] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

[X] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

>>18686
RIP AND TEAR

>>18686

I do think Phobe will get along great with Yamame and Hina (two nice girls with terrible powers)

{X} Grab the other one, and start a pile.

>>18689
Or two naughty girls with an agenda.

You are now imagining Phobe sandwiched in between Yamame and Hina.

[ ] Cats eat these, right? Maybe it's tasty...

Because soneone must vote for this. And mice are edible...when properly done.

>>18692
Phobe meets Nazrin?

[??] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

>It's all red and barely moving.
Red with blood, or just the "feels-red" sort of red that Phobe attaches to mental states?

>>18691
Honestly, not sure if want.

Doesn't feel right, not with Phobe.

>>18697
That's the point. Pure and innocent between corrupt and lewd. It's perfect.

>>18691
>>18698

That was bad and you should feel bad for thinking that.

No update today. I'm not sure if there will be one tomorrow, either, but I'll try. The homework I'm currently doing is going to take a very long time, and I'm not sure if I can finish it by tomorrow.

[X] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

>>18702
Should I also feel bad for wanting to write it?

>>18713

No. You should actually write it.

>>18713

Yes you should feel bad very bad for wanting innocent Phobe to be caught up in massively OOC smut.

>>18723

You too.

>>18727

Where is my Kohakucorruption.jpg?

[x] Grab the other one, and start a pile.

You pick up the other one, too. These need to be collected. If they're just left out here, though, someone else might take them. You should put them somewhere. Maybe under this bush..."

Yeah, that'll work. You set the two down, and begin watching for others quietly. Waiting, watching...

? hmm. None here, even though you've waited for a while. Maybe you'll try a different building? Yeah.

After a while, you have two more. They went in the same way as the first. You keep going around the edge of the town, to different buildings. Most of them have cats in them, but... well, again. You don't want them do anything. They might take your prizes.

Ah, another one. A single mouse, sitting on top of some sort of pile of something, scratching it's face and smelling the air. You make it angry. That seething anger that makes it want to scream and be crazy and charge at you---

You dodge, and squish it with the bottom of your foot. So silly. It thought it could attack you.

"Hssss...."

Turning around, you see a cat. It's... crazy. Red. Angry. Did you do that on accident? Maybe if it was standing behind you, it got a little crazy. You're trying your best to point your youkai-ness forward, but maybe you can't do it right yet. It might have already been crazy, though.

Still, it looks like it might attack. Chen might be mad if you beat it up like you're doing to the mice, so...

[ ] Better change it back. That's no good.
[ ] Just ignore it. It can't win, anyway.
[ ] Get away. It'll go back to normal after a while, and you don't want to fight it now.

[x] Get away. It'll go back to normal after a while, and you don't want to fight it now.

[ ] Better change it back. That's no good.

oops

[ ] Better change it back. That's no good.

[X] Get away. It'll go back to normal after a while, and you don't want to fight it now.

[ ] Better change it back. That's no good.

[x] Get away. It'll go back to normal after a while, and you don't want to fight it now.

[X] Better change it back. That's no good.

Leaving it alone to attack other cats isn't going to make Chen any happier than us killing it.

[x] Better change it back. That's no good.

[x] Better change it back. That's no good.

[X] Better change it back. That's no good.

[x] Better change it back. That's no good.

[x] Better change it back. That's no good.

? you should change it back. If you leave it like this, something bad might happen. It might run around attacking things, or other stuff like that.

You try to un-color it, set it back to normal. You should be able to do that, right? Instead of putting it in, just take it out. It looks at you, ready to spring. Just take it out. Calm it down...

It's not working. You don't think it's getting any worse, but it's not getting better. It lunges at you, and you dodge. Not that it would hurt anyway, but you do it because that's what you should do when something attacks. Not working. Why won't it go back?

It lunges again, hissing and snarling and making all kinds of strange noises as it does. Again, it misses, but... uh oh.

It keeps going. Out of the building, towards other buildings.

[ ] Quick, catch it! If you hold it, it should go back to normal with time.
[ ] Quick, catch it! Then, take it and try to find Chen.
[ ] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[Q] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[x] Quick, catch it! Then, take it and try to find Chen.

[X] Quick, catch it! If you hold it, it should go back to normal with time.
[X] If it doesn't then take it and try to find Chen.
[X] If you can't find Chen, then try to change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[x] Cut it off.
[x] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[ ] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[x] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[O] Quick, catch it!
[O] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

[x] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

I sure hope this works.

[x] Change the color, instead. If it's happy, it won't attack anything.

Not good. Not good---!

You run after it, trying to keep up. Red is bad. It's dangerous for other things, and not just the thing that's angry like that. And you can't change it back. But, maybe you can change it to something else?

Excited and crazy, but not angry and crazy. They're kind of close, so it's not a big change. Like taking a small step backwards, or forwards, or whatever.

It works. You can see it change a bit in the way it acts, but it still keeps running. You let it go. Things should be fine now. You wonder why that happened, though? Maybe you can't aim it like you thought. Oh well. You just need to be more careful from now on.

Looking around, you can see that the stuff is more dark than it was before. It's probably getting closer to night, but you can't exactly tell with the sun gone.

[ ] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...
[ ] If you hurry up, you could catch a few more mice.
[ ] Something else (write-in)

[x] If you hurry up, you could catch a few more mice.

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[Ph] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

{X} Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[X] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] If you hurry up, you could catch a few more mice.

[X] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

[x] Closer to the party, too. Maybe you should find Chen...

Catching mice is fun and stuff, but it takes a while. You don't think you can get any more. And, you don't want to miss the party, either. Maybe you should go gather up your catch, and try to find Chen.

You head back to the building where you had trouble with the cat, pick up the one there, and then head to your other stashes. One, two three, four five... not bad, you think, for a not cat. They're a little hard to carry, but if you cradle them in your arms, you can manage. Now, where would you find Chen? Checking every cat could be hard work, but you don't know what... oh.

You find another cat. It's normal, but that's ok.

"Hey."

The cat ignores you.

"Hey," You ask, getting closer, "Have you seen Chen?"

It gives you a look, but doesn't do anything else. It heard you, but you don't think it wants to help. You find another cat.

This one does help, and brings you to an old building that's mostly intact. Unlike the other ones around it, it has both parts: walls, and a top. The walls only have a few holes in them. Inside, it smells a bit different than the other ones. Stronger.

As you're walking through, you see another cat... one with a golden ring in it's ear. And two tails.

"Hi," You say, "It's getting close to party time~"

The cat turns around, and in a matter of seconds, transforms into a person. Yep, it's Chen.

"Oh, you got some?" She asks, looking at your arms. "Not bad. How'd you do it?"

[ ] Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
[ ] Shorter version. Just the technique, and where you hunted.
[ ] Trade secret~

[c] Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
[c] Trade secret~

>>18794
Those votes... don't really work well together.

[X] Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
- [X] Mention that you'd like to apologize to the cat. He probably didn't like being crazy very much.

{X} Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
- {X} Mention that you'd like to apologize to the cat. He probably didn't like being crazy very much.

{ Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
- { Mention that you'd like to apologize to the cat. He probably didn't like being crazy very much.}}

[ ] Trade secret~

Don't talk about the cat, to a cat demon that is the cat's boss.

[ ] Trade secret~

[X] Trade secret~

[x] Trade secret~

{X} Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
- {X} Mention that you'd like to apologize to the cat. He probably didn't like being crazy very much, and you didn't mean to make him crazy.

Phobe is a honest girl.

[0] Trade secret~

{X} Long version. Include the other cat that you made crazy.
- {X} Mention that you'd like to apologize to the cat. He probably didn't like being crazy very much, and you didn't mean to make him crazy.

Phobe, the Youkai of Noble Intent.

[x] Trade secret~

[x] Trade secret~

The less known about Phobe's power, the better.

>>18807

Even to a cat that can control corpses possibly? I think a well intentioned apology will work.

It's not it's Tewi apologizing (which no one would seriously believe a word of it.)

[x] Trade secret~

[x] Trade secret~

[x] Trade secret~

No offense, Klay, but are the in story days going to drag on this much?

Since thinking on it it is a bit on the slow paced side.

>>18813
This is because he makes only a small update daily. Some of them are too short too.

[X] Trade secret~

>>18813
Long Answer: I think that >>18814 is correct for why they seem to take so long. It's something that I've tried to work on, but I really can't seem to make them much shorter without them feeling like I'm shaving off too many hours in a day. I think it might have something to do with my reluctance to timeskip all over the place (breaks the flow), or the fact that as a kid, even small things are interesting. Glossing over things doesn't feel right. If you have any suggestions for a solution, feel free to make them. I'm always looking for pointers.

Short answer: Hopefully not so much anymore. Things should take off after the party.

>>18822

Perhaps try to combine them as in making the cat chase involving a few votes, such as plan, tactics, what to do with them. It'd help make it more action filled.

And such small not much happening updates are mainly tolerable at a daily update speed.

so try to combine small similar updates into one.

>>18822
It feels that even after 7 days we still did not do much, we did not move forward much. It feels like we are on Namek. And I have that feeling for some time now. Plus, i think the Timeskip was stupid because it did not help solve the problem that was slowly building up here, instead it took away valuable time. It just did alienate me with the story and i could not get in anymore. Reading and voting feels more like a daily chore than an enjoyment.
So i can understand what >>18813 means. The only solution is to either make more updates or make them much longer. Or at least make them as big as >>18630. Updates like >>18759 and >>18770
are a joke.

While I personally prefer a constant, non-negligible update speed to the random, glacial movement that the site in general has, the posters above do have a point, this story has become a bit of a chore instead of the fun it's supposed to be. But as I doubt the writefag could keep up the current stable updates if he wrote them longer, I'm kind of out of any constructive advice here.

[x] Trade secret~
- [x] Ask to apologize to the cat you disturbed.

>>18828
More like posts like this are a joke. Nothing but complaints, and it reads like it's being spoken in a robotic monotone.

>>18835
Whatever you say, it is still the truth. If you look at the last threads you will notice that there are mostly votes and some rare times discussion. Either we give critique or we just butter them up and tell them how awesome they are and all is fine. If Klaymen wants it that way, i will shut up and never bother again.

Actually i am not sure what could help improve things, more updates is just a shot in the dark that would probably not help much anyway.

>>18827
Usually, short posts like those are for your benefit. For instance, in that last chase scene, the cat would have gotten away had I not put a choice there. She was going to keep trying and trying until it bolted, went under something and out of sight. I had it already written, but when I thought about it, it seemed like railroading. So I deleted it and put a choice in instead.

I only write for two to three hours per day. I can't really afford much more than that on most days, and when I can, I'd rather sit around and enjoy the downtime instead. Doing nothing too often would lead to a dropped story, so I've been trying to keep it to once a day (with a day off somewhere in the week). If you guys want me to cut down on the short posts and do things like what >>18822 suggests, I'll have to take a more auto-pilot role and do things like I mentioned in the first paragraph. I thought not doing that would cut down on rage, but I guess it's the opposite. Let me know what you think.

Also, the timeskip was to avoid 7 days game-time worth of these kind of updates. This day was supposed to be a quick thing, then the party, and then stuff. I hadn't planned on you playing with Chen all day, it just sort of happened; and once I was there, it would have felt like I was just skipping over things if I... well, skipped over things to make it faster. I don't like rushing. My fault. I don't really have much time to consider all the consequences of letting you do something; it takes less thought, and less time, to just roll with the punches. As I stated before, things should be moving faster once the party rolls around. I've actually got stuff planned out for that, since I had time to do so (not needing to write it RIGHT NOW helps with brainstorming).


>>18835
No, they're worthwhile, at least to me. "Nothing but complaints" gives me something to try to fix, or at least food-for-thought, as long as it isn't completely inane.

Anyway, writing now.

>>18837

No, I agree with this fellow. I'd rather you don't post an update daily and spend 6 hours on an update in which something happens, then have 3 hours for a paragraph of "action was performed. results." Because that's what it feels like at the moment. Frankly I'm considering dropping this story, because nothing ever happens. There's few discussion because nothing we do feels like an actual decision we need to consider. It's just A/B pick one.

[x] Trade secret~

"It's a secret~"

"Aww, you won't tell me?"

You shake your head, and smile. This is a kind of game, too. "Nope."

"Well, good job," She says, grinning. "But, I did better."

She motions into a room nearby, so you take a look inside. There's.... a pile. A whole pile of furry little balls that she caught. Enough that you would have a really hard time carrying them all, even if you heaped them up in your arms.

So, this is what a good hunter can do.

"Cool~"

Very youkai-like.

"So, what do you do with them all?"

She shrugs. "They go away. I guess other things eat them. I like Ran's cooking, better."

You decide to put your mice there, too. That's best. You don't really want to carry them around anymore.

"Think it's time for the party yet?" You ask, curious.

"Let's go ask," Chen says, motioning you towards the outside. "It's probably close, I think."

You follow. Across the grass, towards the only completely not-broken house here.

"Wait outside, OK?" Chen asks, walking up the steps. "I'll be right back."

You do. Taking a seat on the steps, you start to look out over the village. This is a nice place. It would be a lot nicer if you could get out whenever you want, but it might be OK that you can't. Hunting mice was fun. The buildings all smell nice, too. Maybe you could bring someone else with you next time.

You hear the door slide open behind you.

"Ran says you can come inside, but it's going to be a little bit."

You turn around and find Chen holding a bowl of stuff, stirring a spoon around.

"What's that?"

"Ah, Ran wants me to help her cook stuff."

[ ] Head inside, and try to find something to do.
[ ] Maybe you could help, too?
[ ] Oh. In that case, you're going to stay out here and play.
[ ] Something else (write-in).

>>18839

Interesting proposal. How many of you would rather see me take two/three days between updates, rather than doing one daily?

[Q] Head inside, and try to find something to do.

>>18841
You could test it for a week. Update 3 times in 7 days and see how Anon reacts to it.

>>18841

My complaint isn't the slice of life matter, just how slowly it proceeds. You should try to put more time towards a better update, we'd understand that you might need time for it.

Look at Glasnost, he may update once a month, but often his updates are meaty.

>>18844

I was going to try this before updating less, if no one gave a really strong response to that one. Again, I've sort of been doing it because I thought you guys would rather have a say in what's going on than just having me thrust something at you, and ask "What do you do NOW?".

Let me know if it starts to feel like railroading, since my sense of that is obviously skewed.

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

Chef Phobe! I wonder if we'll get whip cream on our face~

{X} Maybe you could help, too?

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

>>18841
I don't. I'd rather have something to look forward to on a daily basis instead of coming back every 2-3 days for an update. I don't care how slowly it proceeds, I appreciate being able to decide on every action and witness the direct outcome instead of just glazing over it as nothing but filler, and coming to conclusions that had nothing to do with the vote in the first place.

But maybe that's just me.

Either way, no update today. Sorting out some real life issues.

>>18875

This.

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

[x] Maybe you could help, too?
I personally doubt people are going to feel railroaded even if they can only make, say, half the decisions they do now. I'd much prefer for the votes to happen at more critical junctions, just "spamming" them like this makes the decisions a bit cheap and makes it more difficult to differentiate between important and non-important choices.

>>18904
I agree with this; I like your take on slice-of-life, but the choices are so insignificant now that I have a hard time bringing myself to care what wins. I don't know if slowing down and making longer updates is the solution, but I will say that I never felt this way about SCIENCE! updates, even the ones that weren't action-packed.

Hope this helps.

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

Either style works, but I'd likely go with whichever is easier and ensures more a more reliable writing schedule.

Tried writing a longer one today, but then got distracted by stuff and didn't finish it. Update tomorrow, since I'm too tired to finish it right now.

[x] Maybe you could help, too?

"Can I help?"

Chen gives you a curious look. "You want to?"

You think about it for a moment, and then nod. "I want to. Mystia always has fun cooking."

Chen smiles, turning around to head inside. "Ok, let's go ask."

You head back inside the not ruined house behind her. It seems more lively this time around with the lights on the ceiling all lit up, following behind someone. The two of you head into the kitchen that you found earlier, although it's now full of all kinds of bowls and things. And big tails.

"Ran, Phobe wants to help cook~"

The big fluffy mass turns like it did before, revealing Ran holding one of those knives. She gives you a smile.

"My, how helpful," She says, smiling at you. "Have you ever cooked before?"

You shake your head. "I've watched stuff get cooked, though."

"Hmm. Chen, why don't you hand her that bowl?" Ran says, "I've got something else for you to do."

Chen nods and hands you a bowl. It's very weird feeling; not wood like the other bowls you've seen, though the spoon is. And, it's colored like one of the stripes on your hat. It's pretty strange, but it doesn't look bad.

Looking inside, though, you have no idea what that stuff is. Some light-brown/dark-brown goop.

"Mix it real well," Ran says, making a motion with her hands. "Like this. I'll need it in a little bit."

You nod. You can do that.

"Here," Ran says, turning back to Chen. She gives her a knife. "You get to cut things today."

Chen smiles a little at this. "Really? What?"

"Some vegetables. We're making one of Yukari's recipes..."

This kitchen is a lot different than Mystia's. For starters, there is no fire. No meat, no smoke, none of that. It doesn't smell as good right now, but after a while, it does. Your stirred mess gets put on a sheet of metal, and then into this box like thing... it's all really weird. When you ask what it is, Ran tells you something about ?electricity?, but you don't really get it. It's some kind of power source, though, like fire.

Cleaning, too, is different. All the things with stuff on them go into another box with lights on the front.

This is a strange place.

"Is that it?" Chen asks, after the last of the things has been put away. The kitchen looks like it did the first time you saw it, except for the huge pot heating on the top of the box that they put your mess in.

"I hope so," Ran says, looking somehow relieved. "Thank you both for the help. I was running a little late today."

Chen nods, and you do to. "It was fun, even if I didn't do much."

"The best part is when you get to eat it," Ran says, laughing a little bit. "Isn't that right, Chen?"

"Yeah!" Chen yells, "Cookies are the best. I don't know about the other stuff, though..."

"It's... *yawn*, a good recipe. A nice thick stew to warm the soul. I think you'll like it."

You turn around to see the source of the new voice. It's that woman, the sleeping one!

"A-ah, Yukari... good afternoon." Ran says, suddenly sounding different. More serious, you guess. "We have a visitor."

Yukari begins to make her way into the kitchen, towards the pot of stuff ?I know. And a new friend, right, Chen?"

Chen laughs. "Yeah! Phobe's really fun."

"Mmm..."

The blond woman gives the pot a sniff, and lets out a noise. You think she likes it. It doesn't really smell like much yet, though. After this, she pats Ran on the back. Sort of hard, you think.

"Good job~"

"It wasn't just me," Ran says, "They both helped."

"Hoho, both of them? I bet it'll be three times as good, then."

This... something is off. Or something. Or maybe she just wasn't as dangerous as you thought? Weird. She's definitely dangerous, but... you don't get it.

"Are you... feeling ok?" Ran asks, "N-no offense, but..."

Yukari laughs. "Certainly. It's a festival day, after all."

There's a brief pause, where no one says anything.

[ ] Maybe now is a good time to ask if you can go with them.
[ ] Maybe now is a good time to ask about this place.
[ ] Maybe now is a good time to ask about something else (write-in).
[ ] Just continue to watch.

[X] Just continue to watch.
Observing Yakumo family dynamics.

Incidentally, I don't feel like we missed out on a choice in the middle of this update, so I'd say it's a good length.

[ ] Just continue to watch.

>Yukari laughs. "Certainly. It's a festival day, after all.."

Yeah, she doesn't want to miss the drinking and molesting.

[x] Maybe now is a good time to ask if you can go with them.

[x] Maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself.
[x] Then ask if you can go with them to the party.

{Maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself.
{Then ask if you can go with them to the party.}}

[x] Maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself.
[x] Then ask if you can go with them to the party.

Nice length I say.

[X] Maybe now is a good time to ask if you can go with them.

[X] Maybe now is a good time to ask if you can go with them.
Then
[x] Just continue to watch.

[x] Maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself.
[x] Then ask if you can go with them to the party.

[x] Maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself.
[x] Then ask if you can go with them to the party.

She already knows your name, but... maybe now would be a good time to introduce yourself? It's bad if you don't do that.

"I'm Phobe," You say, like you normally would. "But... how'd you know my name?"

"Yukari Yakumo," Yukari says, turning back to you. Ran looks a little angry at your question, but Yukari doesn't seem to mind. "And, I heard you earlier when you were out in the hall."

"Could I... go with you to the party? Chen says I can't leave on my own, and I still want to go..."

Yukari smiles, a little slyly. "I don't know. Chen, what do you think?"

"Me?"

Yukari nods.

"I want her to go. We're friends."

"It's settled, then," Yukari says, turning back to you. "It'd be a shame if you were stuck here all night, wouldn't it?"

You nod.

"I was thinking we could leave in around a half hour," Ran says, "The cookies will be done by then."

"Hmm, hmm..."

Yukari brings something up to her mouth in a thoughtful pose. A... fan. Right.

"I'll leave that to you, then," She says, "I was going to head out now. How about you, Chen?"

Chen gives Ran a look, causing the big fluffy woman to give her a nod. "I wanna go too."

Yukari looks in your direction. "And you?"

[ ] Let's go~
[ ] You'd rather wait here for a bit (write-in as to the reason)

[x] Let's go~

Going straight to the fun!

[x] Let's go~

[x] Let's go~

[x] Let's go~

[x] Let's go~
Reckless? Who cares!

[x] Let's go~

[x] Let's go~

...apologies. No update today, since I was doing all kinds of stuff today. I'll resume tomorrow.

And, if you're wondering, none of these breaks were really planned. Next week I should be back on my once-a-day schedule.

[x] Let's go~

"Let's go~"

Yukari forms a grin. A sly one, slightly scary. Nothing like Yuuka, but... whoa!

You drop. Back into that place, that dark place that brought you to Mayohiga... but not. For starters, you can't fly. Can't stop yourself from falling. It's kind of annoying. The black has been replaced by something else, too. Stuff that doesn't make sense, but... well, it's kind of nice. Pretty crazy. Lots of nice patterns and stuff.

And, after a short little bit, you drop out of that strange place, right on to your feet. It takes a little bit to figure out where you are, but the surroundings are pretty unique. It's the shrine. There's weird part-buildings set up all around (the top part is there, but the walls are missing), but it's definitely the shrine. Reimu's even here, walking towar--- no, she stopped.

"What...?"

She doesn't look happy. Confused, and kind of angry.

Yukari looks plenty happy though. You can see the top half of her behind Reimu. The bottom half is inside some of that crazy stuff. She's reaching out with her fan, closer to Reimu's head---

Quickly, Reimu spins around. Yukari ducks as a bunch of squares go flying where her head used to be.

"Ufufu... good to see you too, Reimu." Yukari says, suddenly next to you while still hanging out of that chaos.

"Can't you just show up normally?" Reimu says, sighing. "One person dropping out of nowhere is fine, but three?"

Three? Oh, Chen. She's behind you.

"To make it up to you, I'll bring some food later. How does that sound?"

Reimu thinks for a moment. "... I guess that's good enough."

There aren't that many other people here yet. You can see Reimu, Yukari, Marisa (off in the distance), some other person with horns, that doll person... hmm. Somehow, you thought there would be more people. But maybe it's not late enough yet.

"Shouldn't the host be happier than this?" Yukari says, again switching position. "After all, what will people think if you go around angry during a festival?"

Reimu shrugs. "All this rain is irritating. I'm starting to think something might be up."

"Hey," Chen whispers from behind you, "I'm gonna go over there."

She's pointing towards the spot where more people are.

Yukari chuckles a bit. "Oh?"

You see Chen start to slip away from the conversation, towards the real party. You wonder if you shouldn't do that, too.

[ ] This conversation is boring. Follow Chen.
[ ] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

Reimu being on the prowl is relevant.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

Time to make Phobe a major player.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

I wonder what this is in regards to, since it might be the area around Yuuka's place catching on fire or what happened in the village.

And we have time to catch up to Chen and the others.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

Are we creating a monster here?

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

I can't think of any way for this to be realistically chosen by Phobe, but I still want it.
I feel bad.

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

>I can't think of any way for this to be realistically chosen by Phobe, but I still want it.

You've never seen a child's rapt attention when they catch on that the grown-ups might start talking about grown-up things?

[x] This conversation is interesting. Stick around for a bit.

This is... interesting. Something is going on?

"Yeah." Reimu says, getting a little closer to Yukari. "You're not behind it, are you?"

Yukari backs up a little bit, and goes to say something, but Reimu speaks first. "...no, that wouldn't make any sense. This is so frustrating..."

"Now, now," Yukari says, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. Why don't you enjoy the festival for now?"

"Maybe it's you?" Reimu says, looking in your direction. "You did first show up at around the same time this all started."

Those eyes... dangerous. You'd better say something fast.

"It wasn't me, though."

She doesn't look any less dangerous. But what could you...

"How do I know that you're not some rain youkai or something, who likes watching people get soaked because they can't find their umbrella?" She asks, but turns again to Yukari. "I guess that one could be your fault."

"I wonder~"

Reimu shrugs, and turns to you again. "Even if you didn't do it, you might be related to someone who did. Or knows who did. That's usually how these things work."

"But I don't..."

Yukari spins around, giving you a sad little smile. "It was nice to meet you, Phobe. But I think I'd better leave now. Reimu's so scary when she's determined~"

Yukari disappears into the crazy stuff, giving Reimu a wink before she does. The red-white doesn't look too happy. Not really angry, either; just normal. And dangerous.

"I think you know what's next."

She's right.

[ ] Danmaku. You should go all out.
[ ] Danmaku. You should try hard, but don't be too crazy.
[ ] It's time to play hide and seek. Mostly hide. Run, too.
[ ] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[ ] Something else (write-in).

============================================
Oh, and, uh... don't worry too much about missing the party on any of the standard options. Probably not on any write-ins, either, unless you do something really weird and stupid.

[X] Danmaku. You should go all out.

Phobe confirmed for stage 1 boss.

[X] Danmaku. You should go all out.

[X] Danmaku. You should go all out.

[X] Danmaku. You should go all out.

Time to get the stuffing shot out of us~

[X] Danmaku. You should go all out.

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

>>19084
Oh god, I can just see that hugging Reimu will bring us nothing good at all, but I just HAVE to vote for it..

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

oh wow

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

Hug Reimu, do it you little cute Youkai.

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

[X] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[X] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[X] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

Melt that icy heart with moe~

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.
[x] Hug Reimu. She seems lonely.

YES

[x] You just want to enjoy the party, not fight.
[x] And you only know a few people; making rain isn't your power, or theirs.

...that doesn't mean you want to, though.

"I don't want to fight," You say, "I don't even know anyone who does stuff to rain. I just came for the party."

Reimu shifts a bit. "...hmm. Anything else?"

Anything else? You can't think of anything.

"Oi, Reimu! We're outta--- oh?"

While you were talking, Marisa must have decided to come over and find Reimu. She found you, too, and looks kind of surprised that she did.

"Hey, Phobe. Here for the festival?"

You nod. "I think Reimu's going to fight me, though."

"You know her?" Reimu asks, turning to Marisa.

"Yeah," Marisa says, nodding. "She's the one that helped Kourin with that car thing. I told you that story, right?"

"Think she could have anything to do with this rain?"

Marisa shrugs. "Nah. You can beat her up if you want, but I don't think it'll do anything." Then, changing the subject, she continues. "Anyway, we're out of those cracker things. You have any more?"

"... I'll check," Reimu says, sighing. "They're really all gone?"

Marisa nods, smiling like something hilarious just happened. "Yeah. Those ghosts just showed up, too. What a coincidence, huh?"

Reimu sighs, and turns again to face the buildings behind you. The shrine and whatnot. Than, as if remembering that you're still there, she looks at you.

"I'll believe you for now, I guess. You're not really strong enough to be behind this, anyway."

It wasn't said like she was trying to be mean, but... it was really mean. Reimu just walks past you, towards those buildings, while Marisa just watches her go. Annoying.

[ ] You're not weak, though!
[ ] ...don't say anything. Just head off towards the other people.
[ ] ...don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.
===============================================

I couldn't really fit the third option in (it didn't feel like Phobe at all), so... yeah. I didn't. My apologies.

[x] Pout and stomp your foot in indignation. Then turn up your chin, cross your arms, and give a small "Hmph!" before forgetting all about it in a microsecond.
[x] Talk to Marisa for a bit. Maybe she could introduce you to some of the people at the party?
[x] Where'd Chen go?

[x] ...don't say anything. Just head off towards the other people.

[x] Pout and stomp your foot in indignation. Then turn up your chin, cross your arms, and give a small "Hmph!" before forgetting all about it in a microsecond.
[x] Talk to Marisa for a bit. Maybe she could introduce you to some of the people at the party?
[x] Where'd Chen go?

>I couldn't really fit the third option in (it didn't feel like Phobe at all), so... yeah. I didn't. My apologies.
Don't apologize. I think it's a good thing that you're taking a stand against out-of-character votes.

[X] You're not weak, though!
[X] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

[x] ...don't say anything. Just head off towards the other people.

[X] You're not weak, though!
[X] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

[x] You're not weak, though!
[x] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

I want to see Marisa take a "helpful big sis" role in this.

[x] You're not weak, though!
[x] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

[X] You're not weak, though!
[X] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

Damn

[X] You're not weak, though!
[X] ...but don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.
[X] Tell her that Yuka's flowers were complaining about the rain too.

[x] Pout and stomp your foot in indignation. Then turn up your chin, cross your arms, and give a small "Hmph!" before forgetting all about it in a microsecond.
[x] Talk to Marisa for a bit. Maybe she could introduce you to some of the people at the party?
[x] Where'd Chen go?

[x] You're not weak, though!
[x] ...don't say anything. Talk to Marisa for a bit.

Annoying. You want to yell out to her, to tell her that, but... it would be a bad idea. So you don't say anything as she heads further away. You aren't weak, just young. You're getting better every day and, even if you can't make it rain, that doesn't mean you're not strong.

"At least, I hope you don't have anything to do with this," Marisa says, laughing. "Reimu'll have my head if it turns out to be you after all."

"Is Reimu always that mean?" You ask, turning back around to face Marisa. The question just sort of... falls out. It's kind of a strange feeling.

Marisa shrugs. "Mean? Nah, not really. You should drop by when she doesn't have work to do."

"Work makes her mean?"

"Yeah, she gets grouchy when things are going on. This much rain would make anyone grouchy, but she's got to go out and fix it if it's something not normal."

You don't get it. "Why does she have to do it?"

"It's her job." Marisa says, laughing. "Even if she doesn't like doing it, she'll get it done. Oh, you found some?"

Reimu's back, with some sort of basket in her hands. "Yeah. These are the last, though."

"Maybe I should hide 'em?" Marisa asks, grinning as she takes the basket. "They might last longer if I'm the only one that knows where they are."

"Don't."

Marisa laughs. "I was just kidding. C'mon, let's get back to the festival."

"I've got a few things to finish up first," Reimu says, "Make sure no one destroys anything, would you?"

"Sure thing."

"Thanks."

Reimu turns around and heads back to those buildings yet again, pretty much ignoring you the entire time.

"Yeah. She's a lot more fun when she's not so busy. Let's head over there, before that ghost starts eating the blue stuff."

Blue stuff... ah. She must mean the tops of the buildings with no sides. "Is it tasty?"

Marisa laughs. "No idea."

It's not a long walk, but things change a lot by the time you get over there. There's more noise, for starters, even though there's only... 8 people here, counting yourself. Doll lady, Yukari, Chen... those one and a half ghosts. Yuyuko and Youmu, right? The girl with the horns. Suika, you remember. That's right. Marisa and you, too.

"I don't have any food here," Marisa says, raising the basket up, "So you two will just have to go back to the netherworld and get some."

Yuyuko laughs. "That's a lie. I can smell it from here."

"Even I can't tell if you're joking or not, Yuyuko," Yukari adds in, with one of those low laughs that she's fond of."

The basket goes on the table, and you get to see inside for the first time; some thin things, probably food. You can't tell right away, since it doesn't really smell like meat. Humans eat strange things.

"Hey, anyone want some more booze?" Suika asks, walking around with that purple gourd of hers. "It'll keep you warm!"

You don't really seem to have been noticed yet. Yukari gave you a quick glance, but everyone else seems more focused on the basket.

[ ] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?
[ ] That's kind of boring. You should try to get a game going, or something.
[ ] Actually, you kind of want to talk to (write-in) about (write-in).
[ ] Something else (write-in).

[X] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?
[X] If they get too boring, though, you should try to get a game going, or something.

[X] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?

[x] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?
[x] Try one of those thin things. They're strange, but maybe they're good..."

[x] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?

[x] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?

[ ] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?

No update today. Will resume tomorrow.

[x] That's best. Chen said it was fun to listen to them talk, right?

You'll just watch for now. It's supposed to be fun, right?

Everyone descends on the basket, almost at the same time. Yuyuko, Marisa, and Yukari managed to end up in front of everyone else, though.

"Mmm, some sake over here," Yuyuko says, raising a hand that now contains a a few of those thin things. "And a cup for Youmu, too!"

"Ok~"

Most people ask for a cup. You don't, but neither does Chen, so... you think it's fine. But, by this point, Suika notices you standing there.

"Hey! Phobe, right?" Suika asks, getting closer. "Want some?"

You shake your head. It wasn't very good last time, so you don't really want any now.

"Hmm? Oh, it's that one~"

"She came with me, Yuyuko," Yukari says, responding to that last bit. She grins at you. "The little troublemaker found her way to Mayohiga today."

Yuyuko motions for you to come over. "You don't have to hide over there, I won't bite."

Yukari laughs, sipping a bit more of her drink. And then, a flash. And the world ends again.

...again, though, it's not really ending. You turn around.

"Oh my..."

This time, it's not a tree that has fire on it. It's one of the buildings behind you. Not the one in the middle of everything, but a smaller one off to the side. The one that Reimu had been going back and forth into. You wonder if this happens every time there's one of those flashes?

"... shall I assist?"

Everyone seems shocked, surprised, but... they're not doing anything. Just kind of sitting there. In the distance, you see Reimu come out from the other building. The one in the middle. You don't know what's going on; it doesn't really feel like a party anymore. Everyone seems really tense.

Yuyuko gives a nod to Youmu. "Do your best."

Youmu starts to walk forward, towards the building. Somehow, someone moving seems to make everything else mode, too. "Ah, geez," Marisa says, heading after Youmu, "Not good." The doll lady nods, and follows. "Not good. She was already in a bad mood..."

The only people who don't go immediately are you, Chen, Yukari, and Yuyuko. The last two, well... they don't seem too scared about it, and start to whisper to each other. Chen just looks as confused as you are.

[ ] Try to help. Get Chen to go with you.
[ ] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?
[ ] Maybe it's best to stay away from Reimu right now, so you'll stay back here.

[x] Maybe it's best to stay away from Reimu right now, so you'll stay back here.

[X] Try to help. Get Chen to go with you.

[@] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

[x] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

[x] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

[x] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

[x] Maybe it's best to stay away from Reimu right now, so you'll stay back here.

No updates today. Issues in real life again, but I should be good to go for tomorrow.

>>19221

hooray!

[x] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

[x] Yukari and Yuyuko are back here, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here?

So... why are Yukari and Yuyuko staying back here? There must be some reason. Maybe they don't need more people to help, or maybe they can't do anything, or maybe they're up to something more interesting. You know you can't do anything, so... maybe it's ok to stay back here, too.

Just standing here would be boring, though, so you get closer to the other three people. Chen notices you.

"Hey, did you see that?" She asks, "What was it?"

"I think it was lightning," You say, "I saw some earlier, and it did the same thing to a tree."

"Huh. Is that right, Yukari?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes," She says, getting brought out of her conversation with Yuyuko. "That's what happens when lightning strikes something. There's a lot of power in a single bolt."

As you watch the group of people out there, running around, you can't help but wonder if they can do anything, either. The whispering, even though you can hear bits of it, isn't really that interesting. Lots of stuff that you don't really understand, gods and mountains and shrines and stuff.

You start to hear a bit of pattering as more water begins to fall from the sky. You're under the blue part-building, which seems to be stopping it from dropping on you, but you can still see it dropping outside. All the people out there seem to be moving quicker.

"Ufufu..."?Ohoho..."

Whatever they're talking about, it must be fun. Chen looks a little depressed. "More rain? That's annoying."

"I like it better than that burning sun."

A new voice from behind you, closer to the path leading off into the woods. You turn around, and see someone about as tall as you, underneath an umbrella. Her outfit is kind of a light pink, with a poofy hat and blue hair. She's not holding the umbrella, because there's someone slightly behind her in blue and white doing that.

"Ah, I wasn't sure if you'd come," Yukari says, again breaking from the secret conversation. "Although, I'm not sure how much longer this gathering is going to last."

The new person walks past you without even giving you a second glance. Right up to the edge of the half building.

She laughs. It's not really a quiet one like Yukari's or Yuyuko's, but it still has that same feeling to it. Some sort of danger. "Really? When did that happen?"

She doesn't say anything about fire, so you move a little closer. The person holding the umbrella gives you a glance, but that's all.

"A few minutes ago," Yuyuko chimes in, "Maybe you saw the flash?"

"Lightning, too?" Remilia adds, laughing a bit more. "She's not very lucky, is she?"

The fire is gone, but so is the front bit of the roof of the building. Everyone that was out there is kind of standing around, but then the rain starts to get more powerful. It's enough to make them start to run for the cover of the big building in the middle; well, everyone except Reimu. She's still standing there. And Marisa, who's coming back here.

"Hey," She says, sounding out of breath after she makes it. She completely goes past the new short person, which makes that person look sort of annoyed. "Yukari. Can't you do something with your power or something?"

Yukari thinks for a bit. "I suppose," She says, grinning, "But I'll put all that water right back if you can't get Reimu to thank me afterward~"

Marisa laughs, but it's not really a happy one. "Steep price, but I guess it's fine."

As you watch, you see the top of the building start to grow darker. More... crazy. Wait. She can put that stuff on things, too?

"Ahem."

The new person is looking at Marisa a little angrily.

"Oh, hey Remi," Marisa says, "What's up?"

Remi frowns. "I'll let that go, but only because it's a festival day today."

At this point, Reimu starts to move towards the main building in the middle. She says something to the people there, and then heads in your direction.

"Go home," She says, talking to everyone under the half building. "The festival is postponed until next week."

Without waiting for a word from anyone, she takes to the sky.

Remi sighs. "Just because her house got ruined..."

"So, do you want to?" Yuyuko asks Yukari, "It does sound like fun."

Yukari nods. "It'll be better if we get more teams though, won't it? There's at least two more."

The party's canceled, but... fun?

"What's fun?" You ask, turning to them.

Yukari just grins. "Three more, perhaps?"

"Three more?"

Yuyuko chimes in. "Sure. Wouldn't it be fun to see if we could stop all this rain before Reimu?"

Remi turns now, interested. "All of us? That sounds a little easy."

"No no," Yukari says, "Small teams, between two and four."

"I was going to head out, anyway," Marisa says, "But, this does sound like more fun... ah!"

She waves for the other three, the ones below the big building. After waving for a bit, they finally come over.

"What is it?" The doll lady asks, "Reimu just said we should all---"

"Hey, Alice," Marisa says, "Let's go beat up some youkai and solve the incident!"

"W-what?" She asks. You don't think she was expecting that.

"All these guys are having a contest," She says, motioning around to everyone here. "So, do you want to help me?"

A small grin crosses her face. "Huh. Well, I suppose if the festival is canceled, I might as well..."

"Yukari, I'm here."

Ran appears. You're not sure from where, but she's got some cookies. "Sorry I was late."

"Me, Ran, and Chen will be on one team," Yukari says, grinning. "Yuyuko?"

"Oh, I guess it'll just be me and Youmu," Yuyuko answers.

At this point, most people are looking a little confused. Confused, but not as unhappy as they were before.

"Of course, Sakuya and I will be on a team," Remi says, but then she turns to that person beside her, "That should be enough."

"I wanna go, too," Suika chimes in, "Can I go with someone?"

The other teams looks like they're thinking, so you do, too. You want to play, but... four? Less could work, but it's more fun with four people. You want four. There's already one person, you, so you wonder who the other three should be. Most of the people you can think of aren't here, but you know where they are. Getting them is easy.

[ ] Make a team! (Write-in three other characters. Anyone you know is fine, but they may/may not join you. Priority will be given to the first one in your list, then the second... etc.)

[X] Yuuka
[X] Wriggle
[X] Rumia

So do we keep asking everyone who got a vote until we've got a full team or do we just ask the top three and risk being undermanned?

Interesting.

[X] Mystia
[X] Wriggle
[X] Rumia

I wonder if we should make some replacement characters in case someone can't or won't make it.

>>19242
The former.

>>19244
I'll be weighting the votes based on the order, so more characters won't hurt anything.

[x] Mystia
[x] Wriggle
[x] Rumia

Yuuka is probably going to be the one man team that blasts us all.

[x] Wriggle
[x] Medicine
[x] Yuuka
[x] Rumia

>>19247
Probably, but only if she feels like it.

I seriously doubt Yuuka will even want to help, atleast at this point. Since the rain is probably more beneficial to her than anything else.
Maybe if it keeps going non-stop for a few days she'll start to care enough, even if its only because she doesn't want her flowers to drown.

[x] Mystia
[x] Wriggle
[x] Rumia

[B] Mystia
[B] Wriggle
[B] Rumia

[x] Mystia
[x] Wriggle
[x] Rumia

[X] Suika
[X] Mystia
[X] Rumia
[X] Wriggle

Suika wants a teammate; let's make friends.

[x] Suika
[x] Wriggle
[x] Yuuka (Replace with Mystia if this is not feasible.)

[x] Medicine
[x] Suika
[x] Cirno

Wriggle'd be all for making the rain stop. Suika is right here asking to be with someone. And reasonable Mystia is reasonable. I'm not sure how into it or useful Rumia would be.

[X] Wriggle
[X] Suika
[X] Mystia

[X] Yuuka
[X] Wriggle
[X] Rumia

[x] Suika
[x] Yuuka
[x] Rumia

[x] Suika
[x] Rumia
[x] Yuuka

[x]Suika
[x]Wriggle
[x]Mystia

Sorry, again I'm delayed. This time by all my professors deciding to pile on homework at the same time, since Thanksgiving break is coming up shortly.

No update tonight, maybe not one tomorrow. I'm not sure yet. I hope I can get one in, but I won't really know how long the rest of this homework is going to take until I start it.

No update today, either. Good news though; I'll be updating tomorrow. I've finally got enough of this crap done that I can afford the time to do at. At least, I think so.

[x] Wriggle, Mystia, SuikaRumia

Hmm. There's so many people you could pick. Lots of people, but which one? You need to pick good ones. Wriggle is first, you think, on that list. Mystia beats her sometimes, but you think she might be a little smarter. She hates the rain, too, so maybe it'd make her feel good to beat it.

Mystia? She's good, too. Then, you only need one more.

Rumia is the first one that comes to mind, but... Suika, too, is there. She's an oni. You're still not sure what that means, but if you know what it is, it's probably important. She seems really strong, too. Rumia is fun, though. And, you don't know if she'll ev---

"Ey, you can come with us," Marisa says, "That's fine, right Alice?" She glances towards Yukari. "Then we'll have an even better chance against you guys."

"E-eh?" The doll user asks, looking a little surprised. Maybe a little disappointed. "I guess it's OK."

"Alright, I won't let you guys down!" Suika says, walking over to join them.

Yukari laughs, and then looks towards you. "Were you going to play?"

You nod. That made that decision easier ?My team isn't here, though."

"That's fine if you don't plan on breaking the four person rule?, she says, shrugging. "Shall we begin, everyone?"

Everyone nods.

"Hah," Marisa says, reaching for her broom, "Let's go. Maybe we can solve it before these guys find their first clue!"

"Yeah!" Suika says, after finishing another drink from that gourd of hers. "We'll beat you for sure, Yukari!"

Yuyuko chuckles a bit. "My my, Youmu. Looks like no one is taking us seriously. We'll just have to show them how it's done."

Yukari just grins at all this, and... disappears. Chen and Ran, too, straight into some crazy that only exists for a second. Yuyuko and Youmu fly off a little after this (and after a few more words), while Marisa's team seems to be discussing something.

You still need to get your team, so you leave. Going by the sky is a little faster, so you do that. The rain is still going, splashing into your eyes as you go. First, to the stand. It's not far. You can go from there.

? right where it should be. Even though the winds are pretty bad, you managed to go the right way. Wriggle and Mystia are even here.

"Hey," You say, trying to get their attention, "Hey guys."

Mystia had already noticed you, but you get Wriggle to turn around.

"You sound excited," Wriggle says, "Ready for the party?"

You shake your head. "It's canceled. But, there's a game instead."

Both of them look confused, so you continue. "Reimu canceled it and went to stop the rain, but Yukari and Yuyuko made a game to see who can stop it first. It sounded like fun, so do you guys want to come?" You explain, saying a lot. Maybe they'll get it, though. "We get four."

"Wait, wait," Wriggle says, "Yukari? Yuyuko?"

You nod. "Marisa, too. There's more people on the teams."

Mystia sighs. "What am I going to do with all this food? I wanted to draw in more customers..."

"Oh, it's only canceled for a week."

"I can't keep it that long," Mystia says, sighing again. "It'll go bad."

Suddenly, Wriggle grins. "So. If I go along, and we get there first, I'll get to beat up whoever's causing this?"

"I don't know," You say, "We just have to solve it."

Wriggle laughs. "Sure. We'll 'solve' it, all right. Count me in." She turns around to face Mystia. "You know, if we stop all this, there might be a victory feast."

Mystia perks up a little. "Oh, you're right! Count me in, too."

"Where's Rumia, though?" You ask, looking around. "We need one more..."

Wriggle shrugs. "Who knows? She'll probably show up in a while."

[ ] Wait for her. You can discuss your plan, like Marisa and her team, too.
[ ] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Go out and look for her.
[ ] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else.

[ ] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else.(Cirno?)

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Yuuka)

[x] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else.(Cirno?)

I'd actually prefer Cirno on the team anyway. That and I actually want to see how she gets along with our moe protagonist.

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Yuuka)

{Wait for her. You can discuss your plan, like Marisa and her team, too.}

Less haste, more speed.

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else.(Cirno?)

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Yuuka)

We need some sort of guiding figure considering how clueless Phobe, Wriggle and Mystia are compared to the rest of the competition.

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Medicine)

[x] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Medicine)

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Cirno, Yuuka, Rumia, or Medicine; whoever you come across first.)

[x] Wait for her. You can discuss your plan, like Marisa and her team, too.

I just think we shouldn't go about ditching one of Phobe's first friends like that, even if she is lost.

[x] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Medicine)

[x] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Medicine)

[X] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else.(Cirno)

Rain will most certainly be involved a lot, and Cirno would be more of an asset than Medicine for various reasons.

Phobe reasoning: Medicine has poison, poison was kinda bad that last time.

>>19305
And even in the situation that it isn't raining, it would probably be an even worse idea for Medicine to be there.

[x] You have to be quick about this, if you want to win. Find someone else. (Yuuka)